Calegari, Valerie. 1997. Environmental Perceptions and Local Conservation Efforts in Cuatro Cienegas, Coahuila, Mexico
Masters of Arts Thesis
Department of Geography
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas
COPYRIGHT BY VALERIE ROSE CALEGARI, 1997
full text (except as noted) provided here:
http://www.desertfishes.org/cuatroc/lit/calegari/thesis.html
THIS THESIS IS DEDICATED TO THE PEOPLE OF THE CUATRO CIENEGAS VALLEY
ABSTRACT
Much has been written about the importance of a local support of conservation efforts, yet few studies have documented the details of the conservation process in order to know how local people are introduced to conservation efforts and what their responses are to these impositions. This thesis examines the process of a recently initiated conservation program; by presenting a case study of this process in the Cuatro Ciénegas Natural Protected Area in Coahuila, México, the study looks at the details of conservation's introduction to the resident people and its economic and social repercussions within the local community. By documenting the residents' reactions to the idea of a conservation plan imposed from the outside, and by looking at these comments along side a number of interviews with scientists and conservationists working in the valley, this thesis assesses where conservation policy supports local belief systems and land use practices and where it conflicts with them. This study suggests that the achievement of locally supported conservation initiative is closely related to a sense of ownership of the land among the resident people, and that this sense of ownership can only be achieved by participating in the conservation process which redefines the land and its uses.
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